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Re: Purchase Page.

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:57 pm
by Little Powell
You still require the internet though Sir to get the activation code.

From the way it says it in the add is like the way it use to be, buy the game, enter your serial key, and play which really isn't the case.

I'm not arguing Little Powell, please don't take it that way...
My point is the internet is not required to activate the game. It's only required when you do Online Activation. We also have Manual activation. The reason we have manual activation is because what if Joe Soldier in Afghanistan (with no internet access) buys the CD version of the game and has it mailed to him. He can then do a manual activation (no internet connection required), call his friend to email the information to us, we give him back the code, and whala, his game is activated. :)

Re: Purchase Page.

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:00 pm
by Saddletank
It would be hard to even find out about the game or actually buy it, without an internet connection, so I am not sure what all the fuss is about. Even if the game was bought as a CD for a gift to a person without any internet access whatsoever, the buyer can still obtain the key via e-mail and give it to the owner.

Trying to express information in a way that covers every conceivable nuance of customer circumstances is not necessaary, you just have to make a reasonable effort to convey the relevant information. As long as you make a good effort towards that duty, no-one can suggest that mis-selling or mis-representation is going on.

Re: Purchase Page.

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:19 pm
by Michael Slaunwhite
It would be hard to even find out about the game or actually buy it, without an internet connection, so I am not sure what all the fuss is about. Even if the game was bought as a CD for a gift to a person without any internet access whatsoever, the buyer can still obtain the key via e-mail and give it to the owner.

Trying to express information in a way that covers every conceivable nuance of customer circumstances is not necessaary, you just have to make a reasonable effort to convey the relevant information. As long as you make a good effort towards that duty, no-one can suggest that mis-selling or mis-representation is going on.
Your are totally correct Saddletank.

But (a very small but), just saying that all you need to do is enter your serial key to play the game is misleading. I installed a game called "Generals", and all I had to do was enter the serial (inside the jewel) to show ownership, and I started to play the game. The above ad makes it sound just like that, install the game, enter the code, and play the game which it isn't.

I think that is something that should be mentioned. Something along the lines of "Internet connection required for game activation" would be more accurate of a statement than "enter your serial, and play the game".

I still think that a dongle is something else that could be looked at for game activation. Stick usb key in, enter your serial code, connect to the game server, it validates the dongle, play the game. Once you pull out the usb key, the game automatically deactivates, you walk over to your laptop, plug in your usb, start the game, game looks at dongle, then activate the game, and off you go. One time Activation...heck it's even another way to make money, if a person doesn't have usb key, sell him/her one with a nice SOW logo on it. For the boxed version you provide a very nice looking USB key already activated.

Anyway, again I am going off point here...

MarkT thanks for opening this can of worms... :P

Re: Purchase Page.

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:43 pm
by Saddletank
"Internet connection required for game activation"
But that was my point, as I understand it, the above statement is not true, you do NOT need an internet connection to activate the game, you just need the activation code which can be obtained by email (and not necessarily on the PC the game is installed on).

Re: Purchase Page.

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:04 pm
by Michael Slaunwhite
"Internet connection required for game activation"
But that was my point, as I understand it, the above statement is not true, you do NOT need an internet connection to activate the game, you just need the activation code which can be obtained by email (and not necessarily on the PC the game is installed on).
I must be missing something here. To activate the game, you require one of three things. Either activate the game via activation server, activate via email with the manual activation code, or wake your buddy up at 3 in the morning for him to read over phone the activation serial code so you can play the full game ether way you still require the internet to activate the game. Activating the game via direct methods, or waiting up to 24 hours for your manual activation code to arrive via email only tells me that the only real difference between these two methods is time spent waiting to play the game.

I just tried the manual activation, and it tells me to contact SOW with the code the game provided, and they will contact me via email with the new code to activate the game, I still required the internet which the ad doesn't say you MUST have, and to say that internet is not required is not all that of an accurate statement, it's actually misleading, and untruthful.

The thing that gets me about all of this though is, what if you did not have a buddy that has the internet to have him or her give you the activation code? What then? I guess paying 30 dollars for the demo isn't so bad I guess. :blink: It is still a great game either way.

For instance, some may argue that if you are able to download the game, you have the internet, but what if someone else purchased the game for you as a gift, but you don't have the internet. I somehow doubt that the person who bought the game for you would appreciate having to do the leg work for you so you can play the game, and have to deal with you having a hard drive crash, and you need them to work with NSD to get the code deactivated, and then reactivate it....I'm pretty sure that the person who bought you the game would soon stop answering the phone after awhile.

I think my whole point is change the "enter the serial, and play the game" to "Internet required for game activation" is not asking too much since it's more inline with the true requirements of the game.

I guess I am making more of this then I should...

Thanks for the reply Saddletank, always appreciated.

Re: Purchase Page.

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:20 pm
by KG_Soldier
On the activation code: piracy is a big problem for small developers like NSD. I have no problem with the way NSD handles this matter.

On the guy who thought he was getting the whole enchilada: I can kind of see what he was thinking, but I see NSD already added a caveat, so the matter should be settled.

Anyone who thinks NSD is out to cheat or fool people into buying the boxed version thinking they're getting Pipe Creek and Antietam too is sadly mistaken.

Re: Purchase Page.

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:27 pm
by Michael Slaunwhite
On the activation code: piracy is a big problem for small developers like NSD. I have no problem with the way NSD handles this matter.

On the guy who thought he was getting the whole enchilada: I can kind of see what he was thinking, but I see NSD already added a caveat, so the matter should be settled.

Anyone who thinks NSD is out to cheat or fool people into buying the boxed version thinking they're getting Pipe Creek and Antietam too is sadly mistaken.
You are 100 percent right Jack as always! :)

NSD is nothing like that whatsoever, and to think it is just wrong. It's actually one of the many reason why I opted to buy the game in the first place. I did my home work on Norb before I made my decision (I approached buying this game like I use to back in the early nineties with following Sid, and other programmer's).... I trust Norb, and the team.

:)